The Winter Solstice or Yule celebration presented here was one our coven did in 1994 and is geared for a medium to large size group. There are parts in it for several priests and priestesses to read, which can be written up on index cards and handed out before ritual. Each person then reads (or has memorized) their part in turn. Feel free to re-write this to suit your own needs and group!
We have always encouraged our children to participate in our rituals also, and there is a play for the children to do which has 4 parts. This play can also be performed by adults, but it is more of a child's performance.
We usually have a small gift for each of our guests, something handmade that pertains to this Sabbat. This year we made silver sprayed pine cones, and handed them out to everyone. They were collected and sprayed ahead of time of course, with the whole coven helping. You may choose to incorporate some other gift, or none at all, and if so, you will need to ignore, or rewrite that part of the ritual.
The Great Rite in this version, is not our traditional one, which I cannot share on-line, but is one which I found and liked very much for this Yule. Please use your own if you are more comfortable with it.
Decorate the altar with fir greens, pine cones, holly, mistletoe, etc. You will need at least one gold/yellow candle to represent the Sun/God. You may also want to use pine cones, a basket, costumes, etc. for doing the pine cone fairy play. Read over the ritual and decide how much or how little you would like to use. As always, a rehearsal is highly recommended!
Incenses to use are frankincense and myrrh, pine, cinnamon and cloves and nutmeg. Oils can be the same, but be very cautious, cinnamon can burn if used too strong, as can some of these other oils. When using on skin, cut them heavily with almond oil, or another light oil, since the scent is important only, and not the strength of the oil itself. Gold and silver are traditional colors for the God and Goddess, as are white and red, or red and green.